The purpose of this survey was to obtain information on the characteristics and practice patterns of early career physicians in order to analyze trends in physicians' activities and the supply of physicians. To that end, the survey interviewed early career physicians and re-interviewed physicians who participated in the previous survey of early career physicians PRACTICE PATTERNS OF YOUNG PHYSICIANS, 1987 (ICPSR 9277). With separate samples drawn for allopathic and osteopathic physicians, t... (more info)

The purpose of this survey was to obtain information on the characteristics and practice patterns of early career physicians in order to analyze trends in physicians' activities and the supply of physicians. To that end, the survey interviewed early career physicians and re-interviewed physicians who participated in the previous survey of early career physicians PRACTICE PATTERNS OF YOUNG PHYSICIANS, 1987 (ICPSR 9277). With separate samples drawn for allopathic and osteopathic physicians, the respondents were interviewed about their medical training, medical education financing, career choices and satisfaction, practice arrangements and compensation, and patient care activities. They were also questioned about medical care management in their practice(s), perceptions of their freedom to deliver care, medical malpractice claims, and the composition of their patients, such as the percent who were poor, black, Hispanic, uninsured, covered by Medicaid or Medicare, or had severe physical disabilities, chronic mental illness, or problems with substance abuse. Demographic characteristics covered by the survey include race, Hispanic origin, year of birth, marital status, number and ages of children, and parents' education.

In addition to the variables collected by survey, the allopath sample data also comprise variables obtained from the American Medical Association (AMA) and the Student and Applicant Information Management System (SAIMS) of the Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC). The AMA variables include gender, name of medical school, board certification status, physician's specialty, and AMA membership, while the SAIMS variables include dates of application to medical school, graduation dates, Medical College Admission Test (MCAT) scores, undergraduate grade-point averages, religious preference, career preference, preferred practice setting, educational debt, scholarship information, and participation in courses/clerkships in different subject areas.

The study comprises five data files. Dataset 1 contains the public-use version of the data for the allopath sample and Dataset 2 the public-use version of the data data for the osteopath sample. Both of these files were generated by ICPSR from the original restricted-use allopath and osteopath data files provided by the principal investigator, which are stored as Datasets 3 and 4 respectively. As noted in the ICPSR Processing Note in the codebook, Dataset 5 contains 26 restricted variables which the principal investigator omitted from the original allopath data (Dataset 3) for reasons of confidentiality. ICPSR received the omitted variables in 2009, 14 years after its initial release of the data.

As explained in the codebook, some variables are restricted from general dissemination for reasons of confidentiality. Users interested in obtaining these data must complete an Agreement for the Use of Confidential Data, specify the reasons for the request, and obtain IRB approval or notice of exemption for their research. Apply for access to these data through the ICPSR restricted data contract portal, which can be accessed via the study home page.

Universe:
Early career allopathic physicians listed in the American Medical Association's Physician Masterfile and early career osteopathic physicians listed in the American Osteopathic Association's Physician database.

Data Types:
administrative records data,
survey data

Data Collection Notes:

The SAIMS variables include information collected by the MCAT Premedical Student Questionnaire, Medical Student Graduation Questionnaire, and AAMC's Student Records System which tracks medical students progress from matriculation through graduation.

Datasets 1 and 3 can be linked to Dataset 5 by matching on the common identification variable CSID.

Users can link the records of the re-interviewed respondents with their records in ICPSR 9277 by matching variable IDN in ICPSR 6145 with variable "Identification Number" in columns 6-13 of Dataset 1 in ICPSR 9277.

Methodology

Sample:
The osteopath sample is a simple random sample of
physicians born in 1952 or later who completed residency training in 1986-1989. The allopath sample has three components: (1) A simple random sample of physicians born in 1952 or later who completed residency training in 1986-1989, (2) an oversample of minority physicians who met the same criteria as the first component, and (3) a simple random sample of physicians who participated in PRACTICE PATTERNS OF YOUNG PHYSICIANS, 1987 (ICPSR 9277). The osteopath sample achieved a response rate of 36.3 percent. Overall, the allopath sample had a response rate of 69.8 percent (63.1 percent for the first component, 67.4 percent for the second component, and 76.3 percent for the third). The allopath file has 2,313 cases for the first component, 616 cases for the second, and 3,124 for the third.

Mode of Data Collection:
telephone interview

Data Source:

AMA database

SAIMS database

Version(s)

Original ICPSR Release:1995-08-16

Version History:

2009-09-15 Twenty-six additional restricted allopath variables (Dataset 5) were added to the collection, and the documentation was revised accordingly.

2006-01-12 All files were removed from dataset 6 and flagged as study-level files, so that they will accompany all downloads.

2006-01-12 All files were removed from dataset 5 and flagged as study-level files, so that they will accompany all downloads.

2006-01-12 All files were removed from dataset 4 and flagged as study-level files, so that they will accompany all downloads.

2006-01-12 All files were removed from dataset 3 and flagged as study-level files, so that they will accompany all downloads.

1998-05-27 The codebook and frequencies are now available as PDF
files.